The Buzzword Trap
When they are relevant and used correctly, the right buzzword is totally appropriate in your positioning. The problem is when companies shove buzzwords into their product description that don’t really match the value the product provides. That just confuses people.
Don’t assume that Kubernetes startups are immune to the buzzword problem. Just because we’re technologists making products for other technologists doesn’t mean we don’t fall victim to trends, it just means that the general public won’t be aware of the trends people in our industry are getting caught up in.
One example I’ve seen of the buzzword problem is ‘continuous.’ Continuous integration, continuous delivery and continuous deployment are all well-established terms (although I’m guessing in real life most people don’t know the difference between continous delivery and continuous deployment, or, as it’s usually written, between CD and CD). This has led to a number of companies using ‘continuous’ in reference to other things: observabiliy, monitoring, resilience, security. Even though continuous makes sense in the CI/CD context doesn’t mean that translates easily to other parts of the workflow.
‘Cloud native’ can also be a confusing buzzword if companies aren’t very careful to make sure that people in their target market understand ‘cloud native’ to mean the same thing that they do. Are we talking about any app that is containerized? Any app running in the public cloud? Those distinctions matter, and if your target buyer will be confused it shouldn’t be in your positioning.
How buzzwords can help
On the other hand, if you have a well-established market category like continuous integration, using that term that is widely understood to help create the right context for your product is a good idea. You wouldn’t be applying ‘continous’ to some other part of the software lifecycle, but you would be referencing the CI stage — perhaps by saying your tool comes between the IDE and the CI tool.
The same goes for buzzwords like cloud native. As long as you’re sure that your target market will understand the buzzword the same way you do, use them. If, however, you’re unsure they will have the same assumptions about the buzzword that you do, see if there’s a less ambiguous way to create the same context for your product.
The goal of positioning is to reduce confusion, create the right set of assumptions about your product and highlight its value. Buzzwords can help you seem cool, but they can also increase confusion if not handled correctly. When in doubt, I recommend avoiding anything that seems buzzword-y unless the team is certain that the buzzword is appropriate for their product and the value it provides.